


East of the Sun West of the Moon

by savedprincess85



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Bed-sharing, F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 19:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20441339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savedprincess85/pseuds/savedprincess85
Summary: Draco has become cursed-into a huge white bear. Only Hermione can help him to break the curse. But they have a journey ahead of them before they can break it.





	1. The Painting

**Author's Note:**

> This story is very loosely based on the fairy tale East of the Sun West of the Moon. It does not adhere to the fairy tale. It would be considered EWE. There will be bed-sharing. This will be a fluffy fun piece. I am posting approximately half of it (Maybe a third) of it now. I will be finishing it up during the month of September. 
> 
> Special Thanks to TheMourningMadam for putting on this fun fest, without which I would have never read this delightful fairy tale!  
Also, thank you to NuclearNik for beta-ing and being a great alpha! Seriously, she helped with a few plot holes and helped me to be able to finish the story.

#### 

Hermione was sitting in her parent’s house, having returned their memories to them during the summer after the war. She had decided to live with them, rebuilding their broken relationship. They hated that she had turned on them with her magic, even if it did save their lives. 

She hated that she’d had to go to war and couldn’t stay and protect her parents in a different way. Hermione had tried to explain that she hadn’t been able to figure out another foolproof way to protect them. After having both Harry and Ron explain the war, her parents finally forgave her. But they no longer trusted her. They tried to hide their distrust towards her, but she could feel it in the way they spoke to her. In their eyes, she was a dangerous child who needed to be kept on a short leash. 

Hermione felt she needed to heal the relationship, and the only way to heal it would be time.

It was now July fifth of the year following Voldemort’s demise. Hermione had spent time training to be a Curse-Breaker. The job was perfect for her puzzle-oriented mind, and she had recently been offered a position working with the Aurors as they needed her. 

The doorbell rang after dinner while Hermione read a book on curses, and her parents watched the news on the telly. 

“I’ll get it,” Daniel Granger said as he walked to answer the door.

Hermione heard a gasp of shock and a call from her father. “Hermione, I think this is for you.” 

“Okay Dad, be right there.” She put marked her place in her book and walked to the door where she found a large white bear. 

“Granger, can I come in?” A sexy, gravelly voice spoke from the bear’s mouth. 

Hermione drew her wand and asked, “Who the hell are you? And how did you know where I live?” 

“I’m Draco Malfoy, surely you don’t see very many white bears around. Didn’t you hear about the curse? Potter told me you could help. He said besides Bill Weasley, you were the best Curse-Breaker. It comes naturally to you. Now, can I please come in? I can only keep a Notice-Me-Not charm on for a few moments, and I would hate to have someone notice a huge white bear entering your abode.” The bear spoke confidently like the Malfoy she knew, so she nodded her head and moved out of the way for him to enter.

He walked into the living room, and Hermione’s mother gasped in shock. “Hermione, what’s going on?” She asked distrustfully.

“Mum, Dad, this is Draco Malfoy. He’s a boy I went to school with at Hogwarts. Apparently, he has been cursed and Harry sent him to me. Hopefully, I can fix this quickly,” Hermione explained quietly as she turned to Draco and introduced her parents, “Draco, this is Daniel and Cassandra Granger, my parents. Let’s go to my room so I can run some diagnostics.”

“It’s nice to meet you, sir, ma’am.” Draco nodded his furry head in greeting and lumbered after Hermione up the stairs. Hermione heard him growl and grumble about having to climb stairs but didn’t acknowledge his complaining. If Harry sent Malfoy to her, then she would help. 

When they arrived at her room, she waved her wand and sent a Patronus to Harry. 

“Harry, did you send Draco Malfoy to my house without warning? What were you thinking?” Her otter scurried away after sniffing Draco curiously. 

Draco chuckled—or at least Hermione thought he chuckled—at the adorable otter. “Can you teach me that?” 

“Let’s just get your curse broken first, ok? Then we can plan some lessons.” Hermione went to her desk and pulled out a spiral notebook and ballpoint pen. She waved her wand at Draco and wrote notes on what the runes from her diagnostics revealed.

…..

Hermione wasn’t aware, because, well, Draco was a huge white bear, but he was smiling a shy smile at her promise for lessons. It was his dream to spend more time with her. That was why he had chosen her over Bill Weasley—no matter the difference in experience. He hated how he treated her in school and wanted to make amends. Draco hadn’t wanted to cause her pain, but he had to keep her safe. The Dark Lord or Bellatrix would have killed her otherwise. 

He listened as Hermione muttered to herself as she wrote down the runes and their meanings. He watched her and was in awe of her beauty. After half an hour of her taking notes, Draco looked around Hermione’s room. It looked just as he thought it would: books overflowing from two large bookshelves, a desk with notebooks and parchment covering it, and a patchwork quilt on a full bed. But what captured his attention, besides the woman grumbling as she took notes, was a painting across the wall above her bed.

He studied it carefully but couldn’t place the scene. It felt peaceful, completely familiar yet foreign.

A blue river flowed through tall trees with a waterfall in the distance. The trees were in brilliant shades of green, and the rocks in the river looked real. It was a gloriously beautiful scene. It felt like a dream.

Hermione’s voice broke through his thoughts on the painting. “Well, the good news is that I may be able to break this curse,” she finally told him, standing up and walking around. “The curse was definitely the work of Bellatrix.”

He interrupted her, saying, “How can you tell?”

“All of her curses have a signature. I can almost hear her cackling madly through it.”

“Oh, okay.”

Hermione continued, “This curse is terribly complex. It will take at least a week for me to break through the layers on the curse—to break it permanently. Plus we’ll need to travel a bit for some rare potion ingredients and brew a very persnickety potion. Right now though, I can make it to where you can be human during the night.”

Her words gave him hope. He hadn’t been sure that she could help him, but as she spoke his attention was drawn to the painting on Hermione’s wall again. 

Then she spoke again, “Yes, I painted that. It came to me in a dream. I dreamt that I was East of the Sun but West of the Moon, and this is where I landed. I couldn’t describe it, so I had to paint it. That was last month, around your birthday.” She looked confused for a moment, before continuing, “There was a bear, a white bear in my dream. He was looking for something, something so important he would die without it. But he was so sad and broken.” 

Draco’s breath caught, “What was he looking for?” 

Hermione’s eyes misted over. She closed her eyes as if remembering the dream all over again. When she opened her eyes again, she looked at Draco in the face, searching his grey eyes for an answer to her unasked question. Hermione must have seen an answer because she nodded before whispering, “Me.” 


	2. The Curse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The below mood board is the alternate board I created. Tell me which you like better, please. This is my first foray in creating any sort of aesthetic.
> 
> As always, thank you to the Mourning Madam for creating this fest and NuclearNik for beta-ing.

At her whisper, Draco fainted and began to transform back into a man. Thankfully, the curse allowed him to keep his clothes—a midnight blue button-up shirt and dark denim—on during the transformation, otherwise they both would have been incredibly embarrassed since Hermione caught Draco’s head before he hit the floor but collapsed under his weight that was slowly decreasing as he changed back into a man. 

Once he was settled on the floor, she pulled her wand from her hair where she had placed it right before Draco collapsed and waved it, speaking the diagnostic incantation again. The results shocked her.

“Fuck! Draco, wake up. You need to wake up! I need to tell you what’s happening. Wake up!” Hermione dropped her wand and brushed the hair out of his face. 

He groaned in her lap and slowly opened his eyes. “What happened?” he asked as he pushed away from Hermione slowly. 

“You fainted, and I caught you. Then you transformed back into yourself.” 

“That hasn’t happened in a month. I have been a fucking bear for a month, what changed?” Draco attempted to stand but didn’t yet have the strength. Hermione was sitting on her floor and was taking notes as he spoke, nodding her head.

She waved her wand toward him and watched as more runes appeared. “Well, like I was saying, I can break the curse. You transformed back into a man because your magic is calling out to mine. It’s hard to explain, but when I started reading the runes my magic slowly began transforming you back without either of us noticing. You fainted because your body has become used to being in bear form. The longer you are in bear form, the harder it will be for you to turn back into a man. The amount of magic involved is immense, so sleeping will renew and enhance my magic—and entwine with yours—so you can stay human longer. Until I can break this curse, that is.”

“You can do that?” He asked surprised, standing shakily.

“Yes. The part you won’t like is that you’ll have to stay near me to remain a human,” Hermione explained.

Draco looked at her in question. “Why wouldn’t I want to be near you?”

She gave him a quizzical look but didn’t say anything. Really, what could she say? He needed her help, and he obviously didn’t care as much about blood status as he used too. 

“Proximity is key. The closer you are to me at night, the longer you will stay human until we get all the items needed to break the curse. That means we will have to share a bed. Um…” she took a breath and spoke quickly, “In my dream, I may as well tell you, the bear was looking for me. It seemed that our being together was the key to the success of breaking the curse.” 

“Hmm…” Draco acknowledged. “How long will I be human tonight? Do you think you can go with me back to the Manor to get my bag? I understand if you don’t want to.” He rubbed his neck nervously. “I know I’ll turn back into a bear being away from you, but I need my bag, especially since you said something about us traveling for potion ingredients. I should’ve taken my mother’s advice and brought it with me. I was worried you would shut the door in my face and refuse to help me. But she was right; she’s always right.” 

“Why wouldn’t I help you?” Hermione asked quietly.

It was Draco’s turn to look at her quizzically. “Because it’s me. I was a prat to you, and you were tortured in my home. I mean, if there is anyone you wouldn’t want to help, it’s me! Don’t get me wrong, I’m very appreciative of the help. I just don’t understand why.” 

He sat on the edge of her bed and put his hands on his knees. Hermione came over and sat cross-legged on her pillows. 

“This curse is from the same person who tortured me. I won’t hold the torture against you, because you were not responsible. You did what you could by denying that you knew it was us. I  _ know _ that you knew it was Harry. You may be a prat, but you aren’t an idiot. If you had said anything, we would all be dead right now. Voldemort would probably be alive, and your aunt may have still cursed you. I don’t believe for one minute that you would rather have Voldemort be alive and in charge of things,” Hermione spoke vehemently.

Draco looked up at that and nodded, “I hated being a Death Eater. I didn’t want to torture anyone, but I had to. The only reason I followed you, Potter, and Weasley into the Room of Hidden Things were because Crabbe and Goyle were with me. I didn’t want to turn Potter over. I wanted to cover my back and get out alive. Then stupid Goyle had to go and cast Fiendfyre, like an idiot.” 

“I could see it in your eyes. You were terrified and acting—it was just sad. I’ll help you because I think it is good in you. Your motives are good, and if I can stick it to your psychotic aunt at the same time, all the happier for me.” Hermione said with a slightly manic grin. “But yes. To answer your question, I will go with you. I just don’t want to see that drawing-room, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s not a problem. I can Apparate us to my room, you don’t even need to see the rest of the house.” 

Hermione nodded and stood up from her position on the bed. “Fuck! What about my parents?”

Suddenly a glowing stag entered her room and started speaking in Harry’s voice, “Sorry, Hermione. I completely forgot to tell you about Draco. He’s a good guy. You can trust him. We spoke at length about our past when he came to me for help. I know that you’ll be able to help him. I’ll check in on your parents while you gather the potion ingredients. Love you!”

“Oh, Harry!” Hermione hit her palm on her forehead. “It’s a good thing that I love him like a brother, or I may have hexed him from here to Australia. What  _ am _ I going to tell my parents? They won’t like this at all!” 

Hermione started to pace and tug at her hair. She was worried about how her parents would take this news.

She sat down at her desk, tore out a piece of paper from her spiral notebook and started jotting down a list, completely forgetting that Draco was there. Fifteen minutes later, she looked up from her paper as Draco’s voice pushed through her concentration and she became aware of him calling her name. Draco gently placed his hand on her shoulder. The touch was warm and caring and lit up something in Hermione that she hadn’t felt in a long time. 

“I’m sorry, I just needed to get that down. I… um… sometimes get tunnel vision at the expense of everything else. I am ready to go. When we get back, I need to sit down and talk with my parents. They aren’t going to be happy that I’m going to be gone for a bit.” She bit her lip, anxiety coursing through her at the thought of telling her parents about the trip she would have to take.

“We can definitely explain things to your parents. I don’t mind,” Draco said calmly, his hand rubbing small, soothing circles on Hermione’s shoulder. She didn’t think he had ever willingly touched her before, but his fingers were soothing to her anxious soul.

“Yes, yes. Let’s go. We can Apparate from here.” She stood up and grabbed his hand tightly. Draco nodded to her and apparated them to his room.

His room was as different from Hermione’s as possible. Where Hermione’s room was sweet and homey, Draco’s was austere and opulent. No clutter or mess in sight. The desk held books stacked neatly, quills beside them all lined up perfectly. The bed was a four-poster with a grey comforter. 

Draco waved his wand and his belongings flew into a waiting backpack. Clothes folded themselves perfectly, toiletry items stacked up neatly. A few books joined the bag before zipping up, and Draco grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder. All in all, it had taken less than five minutes for him to pack.

Hermione was shocked at his skill with a wand. “You… You… That was bloody brilliant! I can pack but not that quickly. Can you teach me?” 

“Of course. Will you Apparate us to your house, Granger?” Draco asked quietly, gently holding onto her hand. Hermione allowed herself to revel in the warmth of his palm for just a moment.

“Don’t you want to tell your mum where you will be?” She asked.

“Nah, she will just coddle me. It’s really rather unnerving. Let’s go talk to your parents then get some rest.” 

She nodded and Apparated them to her room. 


	3. The Explanation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter for now. I will be posting the rest once I get it completed, and the fest has all been revealed. I hope you enjoyed what I have written thus far!

Draco dropped his backpack on the floor and followed Hermione down the stairs to talk with her parents about the trip she would have to take to help him. He was rather confused by her anxiety over talking to her parents about this. She was a grown adult. What could the problem possibly be? 

“Mum, Dad, can I talk to you?” Hermione asked her parents, standing near the doorway almost as if she was ready to bolt. She motioned for Draco to sit down, so he sat on the love seat. Her parents were seated on the sofa across from him. 

Cassandra looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. “Is this the bear? Did you fix him?”

“That’s what I need to talk to you about. I’ve temporarily cancelled out the curse, but we need to find ingredients for a potion to break it completely. I will be gone for at least a week, if not a month.”

“Absolutely not, young lady! You can’t go gallivanting around with a strange cursed man for a month. That is out of the question,” her mum said sternly.

Draco looked between Hermione and her parents. There was something he was missing, he just didn’t understand what it could possibly be. The looks of terror and fear on her parent’s faces were odd, why would they be afraid?

“Mum, I need to help him. He was cursed by the same woman who tortured me. I need to do this, can’t you understand?” She sat down with a sigh, next to Draco.

Draco placed a hand on her knee to stop her speaking, and spoke up quietly, “Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I will take care of her. She will be completely safe with me. I don’t want any harm coming to Hermione. Harry Potter said he would come to check on you occasionally and to give you updates. If I could do this without Hermione, I would, but she’s one of the best Curse-Breakers out there. You should be proud of her.” 

“Of course we’re proud of her! But she is too young to be going all over the world for you, young man,” Daniel said angrily.

“Dad, I’m not a child! I fought in a war! When are you going to allow me to grow up? I know you lost a year with me, and I have apologized for that more times than I can remember, but I need to do this, with or without your permission.” 

Draco shot Hermione a questioning look, which she returned with a small shake of her head. Her father was sitting quietly while her mother ranted on about the impropriety and impossibility of Hermione going on the trip. Draco cleared his throat and used the last arrow in his artillery—money.

“Of course, I’ll be paying Hermione for her services in helping me to break this curse. And you would also be compensated for the lost time with your daughter.” 

Mr. and Mrs. Granger shared a quick look, a look that Draco had seen all too often. Greed. “What do you mean?” Cassandra asked slowly.

Draco looked at Hermione quickly to gauge her reaction; her mouth was opened in shock. A smile bloomed on his face when he next spoke. “I will compensate you for your loss of time with your daughter. I am well aware of how much you love and care for her. She is invaluable to the wizarding world and invaluable to me. This curse has caused more harm than good at this point, and I’m hoping that I can be her friend by the end of it.”

He chanced a glance at Hermione and saw a grin on her face. 

“I’m not leaving you forever. I will be back when this is done. Harry will check on you and I will owl you as often as I am able,” Hermione said placatingly.

Daniel and Cassandra looked between themselves, “Fine. We don’t like it, but we understand this is necessary.”

Draco spoke up and said, “Great, I will have Gringotts exchange the galleons for Muggle currency. You should receive payment by owl sometime in the next few days.”

“We’ll be up and out of here very early in the morning, so I’ll say goodbye now,” Hermione said standing and hugging her mum. Draco watched as her mother spoke to her in whispers, and saw the look of pain that flashed across Hermione’s face. Her father was next and when she let go of her father, she grabbed Draco’s hand in a death grip and led him upstairs quickly, almost like she was fleeing from her parents.

When the door closed behind them, he asked, “What the hell was that? I mean I get protective parents, but something tells me they weren’t going to let you go.”

Hermione sighed but didn’t say anything, just waved her wand to widen her bed. She pulled some pyjamas from her dresser and set them on her bed, fiddling with the tag on the shirt when she said, “My mum and dad don’t trust me or magic. I had to protect them somehow during the war, so I removed their memories of me and sent them to Australia. I found them as soon as I could—about a week after the final battle. It was bad when their memories returned. They were so angry. The anger soon turned into distrust, and now they treat me like a child. The moment I learned I was a witch, the relationship became strained. But then I used magic against their will on them and... I don’t know. The relationship can’t seem to be healed.” Tears were falling down her face by the end of her words.

Draco couldn’t believe his ears. This wonderful girl stood in front of him having risked everything for her family and a world that didn’t appreciate her. He did the only thing he could think to do— he walked around her bed and wrapped her in a hug. She cried in his arms. He knew what it was like to risk everything for family. The mark on his arm was proof of that. But this was different. He ran his fingers through her hair, carefully lest they get caught in her unruly curls. Having her in his arms was perfection, and he didn’t want to let her go.

After a few minutes, she calmed down and pulled away from him. “I’m sorry. I haven’t allowed myself to cry in such a long time. I hate the relationship I have with my parents, but I don’t see a way around it.” She wiped the tears from her eyes and picked up her pyjamas. “I’ll change in here. The bathroom is right outside my door. The curse should not revert with just a wall separating us.” 

“Okay.” He dug out his pyjama bottoms and walked out the door. Sure enough, the bathroom door was just outside her room. Draco changed quickly and cast a cleaning spell on his teeth before walking into the hallway and knocking on her closed door. A quiet “come in” sounded from the other side, and he found her in bed reading a book.

The sight of Hermione sitting in bed reading a book was so natural yet alluring that Draco had to think of McGonagall dancing naked in order to make his body not betray him. He had liked the girl for a long time, but she wasn’t ready to know that.

“I didn’t know if you wanted me to get you a book, feel free to read any of mine you want,” she said, not looking up.

He pulled down the blanket and got into bed and the thought of sleeping next to the girl of his dreams almost caused him to groan. Instead, he focused on the painting. It was so familiar, yet he still couldn’t place why. 

Hermione turned off the light after half an hour. Draco was still facing her and the painting since it was on the wall on the other side of her. The light from the moon filtered through her curtains and lit up the scene. 

Her voice broke the silence when she said, “It stays with you. I can’t get the image out of my head. I’ve never been there before, but I feel like I have.” 

After what felt like hours their breathing evened out, and they fell asleep.


End file.
